WATERVLIET — The City Council will hold a public hearing Wednesday night to hear comments about a proposal to rezone the St. Patrick's Church property to permit construction of a supermarket.

Nigro Companies is seeking the rezoning to business from residential for the 3.5-acre parcel. To clear the way for a proposed Price Chopper Supermarket, plans call for razing the historic church, rectory, school and six residences.

Since the developer filed its application in March, residents supporting and opposing the project have turned out at City Council and Planning Board meetings.

The hearing will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the senior citizen center at 15th Street and Broadway, across from City Hall. At 6 p.m., officials will be available to discuss the proposal, city officials said.

The St. Patrick's lot on 19th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues extends north to 23rd Street. Nigro Companies has submitted a site plan that shows a 40,200-square-foot Price Chopper supermarket at the rear of the property with a 2,600-square-foot commercial building toward the 19th Street side of the property.

Price Chopper officials said the larger store would provide the services and goods that city residents have been asking for. It would replace a small store on Second Avenue.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, which is the successor to St. Patrick's, said it cannot afford to maintain the historic church structure. Engineering studies prepared for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany say the church is deteriorating and rehabilitation would cost more than $4 million. Citizens for St. Patrick's is a residents group opposed to the demolition of the historic church, which they consider to be a defining piece of the city's architecture. They've questioned the suburban-style supermarket's impact on traffic, noise and the environment of the surrounding neighborhood.

The Albany County Planning Board, which has deferred to the city in making a decision on the site's future, noted that the city should consider the proposed development's impact on Watervliet's comprehensive plan and on local residences and that the proposal should include public space.